A comment about vocal music in another thread made me think of Villa-Lobos' gorgeous and haunting Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5. The first few minutes are wordless and I think this would be an amazing piece for a woman who could really interpret it, maybe someone like Carolina Kostner -- too bad she's retiring!

This interpretation by the Brasilian soprano Bidu Sayao, who sang at the Met in the '30s and '40s, is one of the finest ever. Hope you enjoy it.

I love that piece! And I have always loved Bidu Sayao's rendition of it. Another one I love is from an unexpected source: Joan Baez. When she was young and her voice was almost unreal, she recorded this work with the cellos. It gives me gooseflesh every time. I agree that Kostner would do this piece justice, and I think Mao would also.

I love that piece! And I have always loved Bidu Sayao's rendition of it. Another one I love is from an unexpected source: Joan Baez. When she was young and her voice was almost unreal, she recorded this work with the cellos. It gives me gooseflesh every time. I agree that Kostner would do this piece justice, and I think Mao would also.

Thanks, Olympia! I also found JB's version on YouTube last night when searching for a link to post; had never heard it before and you're so right about the goosebumps. Oh, that sweet, silvery voice...simply to die for!

So my thoughts have been on this concept for a while and I'm starting to wonder more and more about original compositions for skaters. They hire all these trainers,choreographers, etc. so why not musicians? It is such a huge part of the performance. I heard Adelina has music being made especially for her and I know it's nothing new but as with coaches and choreographers maybe its a good idea to form a relationship with a musician and carry through with it for several seasons.

I actually think it would be groundbreaking and well recieved if skaters developed a relationship with a musician they connect with and perform to original compositions. I love the thought of one of the young Russians doing their SP to something like this.

Then continue to work with him or whoever it is you chose to work with over multiple seasons. It would help add a little extra charm and certainly build the skaters character. Just think how great the exhibitions would be. Plushy violin exhibition comes to mind. Again...I am stressing the idea of a continued relationship and the identity that could be built upon from such a skater/musician partnership. For both parties.

The other thing is I really think skaters should treat their SP's more like exibition skates and focus more on softer skating with strong accents.

To counter my own point I'll also add that I think a someone or a pairs team needs to skate to 'The Notebook' soundtrack. Maybe it's been done but I'm not that versed in skate history Great story and touching music.

So my thoughts have been on this concept for a while and I'm starting to wonder more and more about original compositions for skaters. They hire all these trainers,choreographers, etc. so why not musicians? It is such a huge part of the performance. I heard Adelina has music being made especially for her and I know it's nothing new but as with coaches and choreographers maybe its a good idea to form a relationship with a musician and carry through with it for several seasons.

I actually think it would be groundbreaking and well recieved if skaters developed a relationship with a musician they connect with and perform to original compositions. I love the thought of one of the young Russians doing their SP to something like this.

Then continue to work with him or whoever it is you chose to work with over multiple seasons. It would help add a little extra charm and certainly build the skaters character. Just think how great the exhibitions would be. Plushy violin exhibition comes to mind. Again...I am stressing the idea of a continued relationship and the identity that could be built upon from such a skater/musician partnership. For both parties.

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I see two potential problems with this.

One is diversity of routines across years. I can immediately identify a George Crumb or Toshiko Akiyoshi or Handel or Saint-Saens piece even if I've never heard it, because their styles are so obviously theirs. Won't it get old to do the same routines, musically, year after year? It's like watching a ballerina only do Ttchaikovsky - it would get uninteresting. So I'm not sure cultivating a long-term relationship with one composer would be a great thing. I know this is done with choreographers, but that's a bit different since figure skating choreographers don't have as obviously specific visions as composers (this is not to say all choreographers don't - someone like Yvonne Rainer's choreography is immediately recognizable). That said, each choreographer does have their own traits, which is why I'd often like to see skater's play around with other choreographers.

Also, I think it would be difficult to get a musician of substantial talent to toil away on a figure skating routine. It would be one thing if you could get someone like John Adams to do it for you, but that's not gonna happen. What I mean is there's a trade-off here. On the one hand, a personalized piece can bring out your best traits - but is that going to outweigh the negative of using a weaker piece of music? I guess it depends how music choice affects the judging.

How do you feel about Plushy's joined at the hip connection to Edvin Marton?

I wish he didn't do so many Marton pieces. For me, it is too repetitive, but I presume lots of people really like the sense of coherence that using the same musician gives to them, or Plushy would not still be doing it.

You must be a mind reader. That is my favorite symphony (The Leningrad Symphony)!!! Too bad it is rarely performed.
I would be ecstatic if someone skated to the march (Allegretto part) from the seventh symphony -- this would be epic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp4444gU8D4
It has a similar structure of building up to the final peak as Ravel's bolero or Nyman's Memorial.
Really, if someone wants lots of darkness and drama, Shostakovich is the composer to use. His music is quirky, modern, intense, out of the box, and has a good rhythm for dancing.
Another one of my favorites is his Hamlet suite. It can't get any darker than this piece. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuuocHoKvsw

Ok, I am going to stop my Shostakovich rant as it is the wrong thread for that.

Ooooh, some very nice suggestions in this thread Here are some of my suggestions, though they are not necessarily good for skating I guess. I'm sure that I could think of many more (and better) choices but so far these pop into my head:

You must be a mind reader. That is my favorite symphony (The Leningrad Symphony)!!! Too bad it is rarely performed.
I would be ecstatic if someone skated to the march (Allegretto part) from the seventh symphony -- this would be epic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp4444gU8D4
It has a similar structure of building up to the final peak as Ravel's bolero or Nyman's Memorial.
Really, if someone wants lots of darkness and drama, Shostakovich is the composer to use. His music is quirky, modern, intense, out of the box, and has a good rhythm for dancing.
Another one of my favorites is his Hamlet suite. It can't get any darker than this piece. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuuocHoKvsw

Ok, I am going to stop my Shostakovich rant as it is the wrong thread for that.

Wow I was pretty sure I'd not get any replies! It's my favourite symphony, too.

It's not a piece one would immediately associate with FS. But yes, if you can do a free dance to Carmina Burana then definitely this symphony is a treasure trove for a couple/skater who aren't afraid to explore the dark side.